


i said i'd never miss you (but i guess you never know)

by Starful_nights



Series: the radio crew's storytime [2]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: ALL IN THE PAST, Character Death, Ghostbusters References, Ghosts, Hair Dyeing, M/M, The Analog Wars, cherri cola's storytime, danger days: year 10 prompts in some chapters, ig major character death applies now?, kobra is a star wars nerd, no beta we die like the fab four, oh i nearly forgot, the title isnt referring to a romantic relationship btw, theyre all trans, watch me start a new multichapter fic while my wip is staring at me all lonely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starful_nights/pseuds/Starful_nights
Summary: cherri talks about his past. kobra listens. it obviously hurts cherri to talk, but it's all in the past...right?
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola & NewsAGoGo (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola/Kobra Kid (Danger Days)
Series: the radio crew's storytime [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993531
Comments: 12
Kudos: 5





	1. how i miss yesterday (how i let it fade away)

**Author's Note:**

> im surprised i got this all done today tbh but. also i didnt bc chapters ig? anyways i gotta post stuff on halloween. happy halloween. :)
> 
> i love halloween even though i had to drop out of the fic exchange so @whoever i wouldve got and also everyone else *shoves fic in your hand* here have some cherri backstory peppered with kobracola instead
> 
> i think all necessary backstory can be found in the fic or in the notes/text of the previous part of this thing that is apparently a series now? yay. they're set in the same universe (i think. is it inconsistent? probably but idc <3) (also promoting a previous fic and not having to paste it in here?? 2-in-1)
> 
> also the fab 4 are only a few years younger and served in the second (of 2) analog wars. kobra was 15 when battery city was stormed, cherri was 19. the girl gets 2 moms (and yes one is michelle from get the gang together see [dead leaves, desperate summers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27149818) for context)  
> if something is inconsistent or makes no sense or doesnt have enough context lmk
> 
> and pronouns:  
> cherri-he/him  
> kobra-he/him  
> sugarplum-he/him  
> newsie-she/they  
> dr d-he/they  
> lemon battery-he/they

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Cherri Cola was sentimental. He was a poet, something Kobra admired in him so much, taking feelings and putting them into words that seemed to light the sky on fire whenever Kobra stopped to listen to them, igniting explosions of emotions that made him stop and reconsider things more than once. (See, he could do those fancy metaphor things as well.) So yeah, overall, it wasn't surprising.

What _was_ surprising was the big pile of old friends' belongings in a pile on the floor and Cherri on his hands and knees looking for something under the single cupboard the WKIL crew owned.

"Cherri?"

He looked up and hit his head, cursing.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for hair dye."

"What for?"

"I've kept the blue for too long. Gotta change it up. Remember the others."

"I'm going to pretend I know what you're talking about."

"Man, I never told you about my old friends?"

"No, I don't think so. You mentioned a Newsie and a Lemon Battery, though?"

"Oh, Lemon! I haven't thought of them in ages."

"Tell me about them, then."

Kobra sat down on the floor, carefully avoiding the tattered clothes and painstakingly painted helmets he wished he had the time or skill to recreate. Cherri's old friends had _skill_.

"You know I fought in the First Analog, against The Other City, which meant mostly fighting against Killjoys of the Other Variety. They were mostly just annoying pillagers who looked for a fight and were surprisingly good. We only had regular guns, it was ridiculous."

"Wait. They gave you _regular guns_? We had a vague form of rayguns by then."

"You were a Bat City soldier, and of a higher rank. I deserted pretty soon, but the war caught up to me. They didn't start giving people rayguns for a few years, not until you were old enough to join."

Kobra felt a bitter taste in his mouth. 'Old enough to join' meant fifteen.

"I met Lemon a few years before that. They were loud, they were angry, they were all a Killjoy really were. They were who saved me when I got tangled up in some shit with some waveheads and a drug ring while D was over on the Other Continent. He brought back...you must know Michelle, right?"

"Wait, D knew Michelle?"

"Everyone knew Michelle. But yeah, he found her and took her with him. She was even more like a true Killjoy than Lemon, but she was also kind. Lemon wasn't the best at that, but he tried."

"Wow. I knew D was important in the Analogs, but bringing the leader of the attack on Bat City in the Second Analog over to us?"

"Yeah. He always was the type to find the leaders of the revolution and help them while somewhat staying in the shadows himself."

Somewhat being the key word here. Helping the Fabulous Four—who only fought in the Second Analogs, when the Other City was already fallen—was one thing, but running the biggest radio station was another.

"I was one of the first ones to storm the City, along with Lemon, Sugarplum and Newsie. Sugarplum…Sugarplum was the sweetest and yet the toughest of us all, probably. He was our, well, not really crew's, exactly, but team's medic, and would swear at us while stitching us up. Then he'd give us one of those hard sweets he kept in his pocket and told us to not choke. He was the last to disappear from my side. Shot by three 'Crows at the same time. 

"Then there's Newsie. Newsie…she was like a sister to me. My blue streak is what her whole hair looked like. She was like a bomb waiting to go off, full of determination and an urge to change the world. I just wanted to protect people at whatever cost. I suspected I'd be the first to go, with wishes like that. I thought I'd die in the City, jumping in front of a bullet or something. I mean...I did kind of do that, but…"

"Cherri." Kobra's voice was incredibly soft. He knew what was going to come next. "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to, though. Newsie...they got on great with Michelle, helped her devise the exact plan. They wasn't the best at it, sure, but with D, me, and Sugarplum helping, it was foolproof. Should have been foolproof. You weren't up with us, were you? You arrived into the fight and had no idea what was going on up there."

"Y...yeah."

"It was a bloodbath. So many of us died, you saw that too. So many kids…"

"You were a kid too."

"I had been in the Wars for four years. I should have known better."

"You were nineteen. Most of us weren't much older. BLI was better that time. We'll get them someday."

"Someday," Cherri scoffed. "We lost our best tactician and leader there. Both of them. You never saw Michelle and her wife work together up close, have you? They were like fire. They shot a hundred Dracs between them in a few minutes. They nearly got to the headquarters. I wish you got to know them. They were amazing.

"Actually, I wish you got to know all of my old friends. I didn't have many, but D is all I have left now. Newsie got ghosted, Michelle nearly got Drac'ed, dying soon after, her wife whose name she didn't ever tell anyone, dead, and Lemon...Lemon fucking _disappeared_ a few minutes in, never knew where they went.

"I'm really glad I found you, Kobes, and Jet and Pois and Ghoul—"

"Party's told you to call them Party about a million times now. You're basically _family_."

Cherri smiled sadly.

"—Party and Ghoul, but...I miss them so, so much. I-"

Kobra silently offered a hug and Cherri melted into it immediately. He knew what it was like, losing old friends, and he pushed the suddenly appearing memory of Crackle out of his mind. This was Cherri's moment of remembrance, and his friends deserved the respect. 

At one point, Cherri started muttering into Kobra's shoulder, telling him about Sugarplum's wonky smile, the way Newsie always got on D's nerves and how Lemon smelled like cigarettes and storms and oranges, even though his name was Lemon, and how Newsie considered choosing a new name to fit in at one point, but then D reminded her that they didn't have a fruity name either, and the one time Sugarplum found an ancient bottle of Cherry Coke and how it tasted terrible, probably because it was stale and flat, but how Cherri drank it anyway and was sick for three days, and so on and so on, and describing the terrible haircuts Sugarplum always insisted on getting, and how he was later offended they didn't tell him how bad it was but when they did say he would also get offended, and all the stories of these people long past filled Kobra's mind and he felt like he knew them.

Kobra didn't know how long they waited there, but he could feel a metaphorical weight on Cherri's shoulder lightening with every sentence. He probably never told anyone about this before, never tried to share their memory and his past like this.

"So. Pepsi," he broke the silence. "You said something about hair dye? I think you should add Sugarplum's purple after the blue and bleach the one after that."

"I'm going to add a pink for Michelle too, I think. She deserves it."

"Man, I wish I knew her."

"I wish you knew her too," Cherri sighed but grabbed the bottles of dye and went into the bathroom.

Kobra couldn't do much to help but watch and listen to another Sugarplum hair dye incident, as it was only three streaks and Cherri insisted this was his job alone, but he didn't leave. He never did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also party only lets their friends call them party. its poison for all others. they gotta look t o u g h


	2. we teenage believers, rallied up against the fence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newsie time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this counts as day two of the danger days year 10 thing that i definitely didnt forget about yesterday.

Cherri wordlessly handed Kobra another mask. The town that was attacked was one of the bigger ones, with its own (neutral) hospital. The three Exterminators along with the thirty or so Dracs attacking on a market day did a pretty good job of...well...exterminating. Nearly a hundred were dead or wounded, the hospital was full, and the 'joys who didn't live here scattered immediately after the battle. The only exceptions were Kobra, Cherri and a few others who went around and looked for the 'joys' masks and the Neutrals' bracelets. This mask clearly used to belong to a young child, it was full of glitter and wobbly lines. 

Soon, all the masks and bracelets were gathered, and it was a bigger pile than it should have been. Only one of the gatherers accompanied Cherri and Kobra to the mailbox, the other three hurriedly making excuses once they saw the pile's size.

Xe somehow didn't break xir glasses, even though Kobra saw xir fight viciously throughout. Xir dark hair had several bright green streaks through it, with the same shade around xir eyes that looked like it was just smeared on by hand. Xe looked like the type of person who knew death better than most, even for Killjoy standards. Xe didn't hold the masks gingerly like Cherri and Kobra did, but grabbed them firmly and put them in a jet-black basket xe carried around. Only after that did xe turn around and offered xir hand.

"Neon Juice. Xe/xem. Ghostbuster."

"What's a Ghostbuster?"

"You. You don't know what a Ghostbuster is? They're like...paranormal investigators from this movie from Before."

"And you...exterminate ghosts."

"No, no, no! I talk to wandering spirits in the Zones and try and find their masks."

"That sounds pretty cool."

"It is, finally someone understands! Others just say it’s creepy, but I've always found it easy to talk to the wandering dead, and I make everyone happy like this. They get to go Beyond, the people who they've been annoying by accident get some peace, and I get paid in food or clothes. Carbons aren't much use to me, but I can make masks from the clothes I don't like and connect it to the souls whose masks are gone forever."

"Wow."

"Anyways, enough about me. I know you, Cherri Cola, love your radio show, by the way, but who're you?"

"The Kobra Kid. He/him."

"Nice to meet you, Kobra Kid. You know where the nearest mailbox is? I'm not that familiar with Zone Five."

***

They put all the masks in the mailbox one by one as was tradition, muttering a small prayer for each one. Neon Juice carefully put the bracelets in too, chanting the Neutrals' prayer. After xe was done, all three waited the minute of silence then xe wordlessly handed a slip of paper to Cherri, then put xir hand on his forehead.

"I shouldn't witness this. You can find me here if you ever want to look for me. Take care, you two."

Xe then jumped on xir motorbike that was the same garish neon green as xir makeup and streaks in xir hair and drove off. Cherri blinked.

"What was that about?" Kobra asked.

"Not sure."

Then News-A-fucking-Go-Go appeared. 

She looked just like Cherri said, hair as blue as Cherri’s streak, clothes garishly mismatched and yet somehow working together, the scar on her face when someone who took ‘analog’ very seriously and attacked her with a knife just where Cherri said it was. He got the details of her last outfit entirely correct, right down to the pink earrings. Her smile was enormous but it faltered slightly when she saw the tears in Cherri’s eyes.

“Cherri?”

“Newsie?” he whispered, not daring to say the words out loud, as if it would dispel the vaguely see-through apparition. “Is that really you?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “The Witch gave me this time to talk to you. It’s Halloween, did you know? The veil is thinner, and Michelle always found me funny.”

“Did you tell a knock-knock joke to the fucking Phoenix Witch.” It wasn’t a question, and an enormous grin started spreading on Cherri’s face. “You idiot.”

“Missed me, huh?”

“Yeah. A...A lot. Newsie…” Cherri didn’t seem to be able to say more, and the ghost of NewsAGoGo enveloped him in a hug. 

“Pepsi.”

“Newsie, you’re cold. You’re so cold. Why did you die?”

“It’s the way of life. If Michelle didn’t die, she wouldn’t have become the WItch. If I didn’t die, I wouldn’t have...well, you’ll see one day. I can’t reveal too much about Beyond or Michelle would skin me.”

“If you wouldn’t have died, I wouldn’t have been alone,” Cherri muttered. 

“Cherri...enjoy your time left in the Zones. You’ll see big things, trust me. Also, you have _got_ to introduce me to that guy standing over there who looks like Lemon and is very uncomfortable right now. They look like your type, please tell me you’re dating them.”

“That’s Kobra, he _is_ my boyfriend, and I don’t have a _type_.”

“So we’re just going to ignore your Zone-sized crush on Lemon?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, Cher, what?”

“It doesn’t matter, they’ve disappeared years ago.”

“So, Kobra, what’s your opinion on arson?”

“Yay? I think? Why are you asking me this?”

“Lemon...may have had an obsession with lighting things on fire,” Cherri said.

“And you’re trying to prove what with this again?”

“That most of Cherri’s crushes were on bleached blond people who liked sunglasses and setting things on fire,” Newsie said triumphantly.

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

“Yeah.”

“I just have...so much I’d love to tell you but Michelle is a bitch and won’t let you mortals know stuff. Rude. So, uh...how about you tell me how you met Kobra?”

Kobra sighed. He really wasn’t looking forward to this. Cherri’s grin became wider.

“So, I went out to the racing track because I was bored, and _this guy_ , he got off his bike, somehow covered in _hot sauce_ , and…”

At one point, Kobra felt like he had to intervene, and they told the rest together, adding details and occasionally smacking each other on the head. Newsie sat down, floating above the sand, and they did the same, only without the floating.

“...so, uh, yeah. That cactus dare date was a year and a half ago, I think? And he is the light of my fucking life, apparently. What a loser,” Kobra finished, planting a big kiss on Cherri’s cheek.

“That was the cutest and the strangest thing I’ve ever listened to in my entire life,” Newsie announced. “But, Cherri...I have to go.” Tears filled her translucent eyes, and she hugged him again. 

“Wait, you know what, gimme a second.” She disappeared and came back a minute or so later. 

“I blackmailed Michelle into letting me talk with you for a bit longer. Ten minutes, no more, no less, and the Kid stays here because he isn’t my brother.

“Kobes, don’t get sunstroke.”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

“And _I_ find your ability to quote Star Wars at me all the fucking time disturbing.”

“Just go.”

Kobra looked at the designs on the mailbox while the other two walked and talked, noting all the little messages for loved ones without masks the ‘joys could bring and saying their names, hoping the Witch--he never knew Michelle as closely as the other two and she was still The Witch for him--would grant them a quick journey Beyond, or that Neon Juice would find them faster. 

When Newsie and Cherri came back, she hugged him too before disappearing. It was cold, colder than anything else Kobra has ever felt. It was nice, though, however much he shivered afterwards despite the bright sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes the occasional dvd or something that isnt totally charred or ruined is found in the zones. theres cinemas every now and then. kobra stole from every one until he had all star wars movies. nerd.


	3. i said i'd never miss you, and..uh..i do? but also get the fuck out of my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im p sure my text divider things r inconsistent oops
> 
> anyways uh. im,,,,,,,,,sorry?

Wake up, fucker. Market day.”

“Go away,” Cherri groaned.

“You promised!”

“Ghoul, I swear to Michelle--”

“I wish you wouldn’t say it like that,” Jet yawned and Cherri realised he’d been sleeping in one of the booths instead of his bed. Why? “It ruins it.”

“Why’m I sleeping here?”

“Kiddo.”

“Oh wait, shit, yeah.” The Kid was now old enough to not fit in her previous bed, and they hadn’t managed to find another mattress yet, so Cherri volunteered his. It was a stupid move, apparently. His back hurt. 

“Anyways, fucker, you promised!”

“Why did I do such a thing?”

“You were tired and I was annoying,” Ghoul grinned and Jet snorted.

“You’re always annoying, love.”

“Love you too. Come on, Cherri!”

“Please remind me to never talk to Ghoulie again,” he said to nobody in particular, and stood up. Wow, for someone so young, his back was _very_ fucked up. 

“So, so so!! This market is new, and it’s fucking amazing, apparently,” Ghoul was literally bouncing as they made their way to the Trans am. Markets weren't worth this. 

“Seriously, dude. Calm down.”

“You can't stop me. Anyways. There's so many people I'd like you to meet!! And this one isn't frequented by the usual crowd. I love new faces!”

You sound like Kobes.”

“I've been around him a lot. And maybe he’s the one who got it from me!”

"You can't seriously be this excited about going to a new market,” Cherri said, shaking his head. “Is there going to be an unpleasant surprise I'm not aware of?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t-- does that mean the surprise will be pleasant?”

“No. I mean there isn't a surprise.”

“Oh. okay.” Why was he disappointed? Ghoul never did like surprises. Plus, maybe Ghoul’ll make some more friends. Ghoul loved making friends, and he looked so sweet when he was happy.

“Hey, hey, Cherri, look! There’s clothes!!!”

“You don’t need clothes, Ghoulie. You’ve got too many already.”

“Three outfits isn’t too many, Mr. I-only-have-one-green jacket.”

“Shut up.”

They wandered about for a while, grabbing food and the occasional piece of candy when cherri couldn’t resist ghoul’s pleading face. He was only about five years older, and yet he felt like a parent. It was very similar as to what he had with Newsie, but they always felt more like siblings, in the end. The thought of newsie and their recent...well...meeting? Made him stop and think back to the last time she saw that bright blue hair, and the last hug that wasn’t ice cold. It had been almost seven years ago now. What the fuck. And the Kiddo was seven...he knew who she really was, but didn’t dare tell the others; it wasnt his secret to tell. Maybe he’ll talk to Michelle again. It felt rude, keeping them in the dark, somehow. Still, it didn’t really matter as long as they didn’t catch on to her connection with electronics. And it wasn’t like it would be really surprising, anyway; Kobes had his snake thing, Poison--no, Party--had a talent for art, and Ghoul was terrifyingly good at tech things. They were all superpowers in a way, and Kiddo wasn’t that different. Her power was just more...intense. And of course there was the prophecy, but she was too small for that to carry any meaning just yet.

“Cher? Where the fuck are you?” Ghoul’s voice from somewhere further away snapped him back to the present, standing in the middle of the road, clutching several bags full of stuff. “This guy says they know you.”

It took Cherri quite a while to find where Ghoul’s voice was coming from. He was standing next to someone who was eerily familiar, but just not like he remembered. There was something off about him, even though the details stayed the same; the same bleached blonde hair, leather jacket and lemon earrings. Their face was the same. Then what was different? His posture, perhaps? 

The answer hit him in the face like a sack full of power pup: it was the eyes. Those damned eyes that were filled with...disdain? Why was Lemon looking at him like that?

He was so confused he didn’t even realise that Lemon was supposed to be gone. Lemon Battery, disappeared at the beginning of Battery City’s storming. That’s how it went. And yet he was here. 

“Lemon?”

“That’s me. Cherri, you still alive? Didn’t know you were into poetry.”

What?

“Lemon...I’ve-I’ve always been into poetry. Don’t you remember the thing I...wrote after you helped me escape from Them?” he stuttered.

“Um...no. They’re not bad poems, from what I can tell. Uh, nice seeing you again. D’you win the battle back when Michelle died?”

Cherri tried to ignore the memories of the carnage that was the City then, of blood trickling down the streets, making the asphalt slippery. It became easier after a few moments, when the full weight of what they said penetrated his mind and all other feelings made way to anger.

“Y...Where did you disappear to, off the fucking face of the Earth? Of course we didn’t win the fucking battle! D’you think the City would still be standing? What the fuck.”

“Just making small talk. What happened to th’others? Why’re you with this lil gremlin now?”

“The others are dead,” he spat, trying to ignore the taste of bile rising in his throat. “Where were you when we were fighting for our lives? When our leader dies, and we were all nearly slaughtered? Where were you?”

“Chill! Underground. You know the place, right? So dark. It’s pretty cool, though. There are showers.”

“And news doesn't reach the Underground?”

“It does, I’ve just...been trying to ignore it,” Lemon said uncomfortably. “It doesn’t bring back good memories, the killjoys.”

“You’re a Neutral now,” Cherri said dully. It wasn’t a question.

“Uh...yeah.”

“What the fuck. What happened to ‘we’ll always stick together? To ‘I’ll never leave you like D did’? Which was utter bullcrap, by the way anyway? What happened to you saying you’d die a fucking killjoy, Lemon? What?”

“What the fuck is your problem? What? This life is too dangerous. I opted out of it in time. I’m not scarred by constantly having to murder any more than I was seven years ago. I didn't live through a fight. That’s supposed to be good, right?”

“It’s not the Lemon I knew. And who the fuck leaves in the midde of a fight??”

“You, deserting a month in from BL/i.”

“You can't be serious. You’re comparing me deserting from the evil megacorp’s stupid war to you leaving the fight against aforementioned evil egacorp? 

“Listen, Cherri. Being a killjoy isn’t worth it.”

“Lemon. You can’t actually be serious.”

“You know what? I’m done with this conversation. I hope you’re happy with your memories of people dying in front of your eyes, of the dozens of Lost-Souls dying by your hand, but I’m never doing that again.”

“You should just turn yourself in. The Zones don’t deserve someone like you.”

“That’s why I don’t live in the Zones, little gremlin,” Lemon smirked. Was Ghoul here all along? 

“Come on, Cherri, let’s go. We shouldn’t waste our time on a traitor like this. I’m surprised the Underground takes you in. Did you bribe Benzedrine or something? Last time I checked, they didn't like BL/i, either. Or were opposed to killing Dracs. You deserve to be a mind-numb Citizen.”

Ghoul dragged Cherri away. Lemon shrugged, and turned away.

They didn’t buy extra sauce for when they ran out of human food again, having to eat Power Pup, another thing they didn’t do Underground. They didn’t even notice, even though they’d pay the price later.

“D’you wanna talk about it?” Ghoul asked. Cherri gripped the steering wheel stronger. “Okay, that’s a no then. I get it. I don’t really like to talk about my past either.”

SIlence for a few seconds.

“Actually, should I? Tell you about my shit?” 

Cherri shrugged.

“I’ve...been in quite a few crews. The people I was with in the City assault disappeared without a trace, I got lost from them.” He seemed to realise that wasn’t the best way to go. “Mom ‘n’ Dad refused to be killjoys. I had to leave ‘em behind. I was in a lot of crews temporarily after that. I hated being alone. I just wasn’t a drifter, you know? But then after one too many times I did that for a year or two. Then I found Kobes again. He was in my City assault crew, actually. He helped me through a lotta shit. So did Party. Then you and Jet came along. You’re the first crew I ever had that doesn’t secretly hate me. I mean, you’re more with D an’ Pone an’ Hot Chimp, I guess? You’re an honorary member of the Fab Four. Fab Four-and-a-half.”

Cherri smiled despite himself. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, though, his mind was whirring so much. How did someone change that much? It had been seven years, but turning around like that? Holy shit. It’d been seven years. What the fuck. 

“I try not to. Kill Dracs, I mean,” he says after a while, gritting his teeth. 

“I know. Don’t let their words get to your head.”

“Would you miss that battle if you could?” 

Ghoul let out a slow breath. 

“I was barely fifteen. Maybe. And it was a battle. A fucking massacre. But that doesn’t make running away like that okay, I think,” he added quickly. "I wouldn't miss it now. A chance to actually make change in the world, to take down the City...it’s worth everything, honestly.”

“I...don’t know what to think. I...I killed like mad before. I was the best shooter around. I try not to, now. As little as I can. And yet….I still have to. And…” He pulled over and rested his head on the steering wheel.

“Should I take over? Or just wait here f’r a bit?”

“Please.”

“We’re not far away now Home’s close.”

Hah. Home. Like Cherri’s had one of those since the world was destroyed. Since he cowered under crumbling walls with his family as bombs went off around them, since he lived in the city for a few years, until he was enlisted against the Other City--why did he still call it The Other CIty? Trust him to still fall prey to BL/i’s propaganda. 

He noticed Ghoul was looking at him, worry filling his eyes. He sighed. WHy was he so pathetic?

“I keep breaking down recently and you or Kobra or D or whoever needs to pick me up and I'm sick of it. Why's the Witch doing this to me? The past was better in the past." That was a lie of sorts. There were some things he missed--people, mostly. For someone with this big of a self-destructive streak, he had a lot of compassion for others. 

"You'd really miss out a meeting with your dead sister if you could?" Ghoul asked quietly. "If I could see mine again, just for a few minutes...I'd...I dunno, I'd say sorry f'r running off like that. F'r going to that battle when I was still so young, hoping to make a change. F'r leaving her alone with all of those idiots who can't pull a fucking trigger to save their lives. Whose idiocy killed her."

Cherri was quiet for a second. 

"No, I...I wouldn't. Talking with Newsie was the best thing that happened recently, to be honest. I just...I feel so helpless, you know?"

Ghoul nodded, but kept his eyes on the road and didn't talk to Cherri after that.

_____________

When they arrived back to the diner, Cherri was almost knocked over by Girlie.

"Cherri, Cherri, Cherri! You're back! I saw a ghost! She was pretty."

“Really?”

“Yeah. She said she didn’t always look like this and that she was...sorry that she didn’t come sooner? Then she grew feathers out of nowhere. Look, she gave me one!” And, sure enough, on a piece of string around her neck sat one of the Witch’s feathers.

“Mich, what the fuck,” Cherri muttered.

“Swear Jar,” Girlie announced happily.

“Uh, kiddo, I think you saw the Phoenix WItch.”

“Cool. Wanna see my drawing? It’s of Her. She looked real freaky. I wanna look like Her.”

“Sure, let’s get inside.”

Neither of them noticed the crow’s feathers sitting on the seat of the Trans Am. Maybe it was best Cherri didn't try to throttle a goddess just yet.


End file.
